Blog Assignment - Selecting Distance Learning Technologies (Wk3AssignPoppC)

Example 2: Interactive Tours
A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums.  The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display.  Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art.  As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance.  In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

“The key to success in an online classroom is not which technologies are used, but how they are used and what information is communicated using the technologies.”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 115. 2012)   There are four steps that need to be considered first:  “Assess available instructional technologies; Determine the learning outcomes; Identify learning experiences and match each to the most appropriate available technology; and Preparing the learning experiences for online delivery.”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  pp. 115-120. 2012)  The distance learning technologies I would suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experiences for her student’s would be podcasting, video-conferencing (two-way audio/video) and blogging.  Podcasting “is the process of recording and storing audio and/or video content on the Internet for downloading and playback using iPods, MP3 players, computers, and other electronic gear that plays back audio and/or video files.”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 130. 2012)  Video-conferencing “allows two or more locations to communicate by simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions”  (Wikipedia.  Sept. 2013) bringing people together.  Blogging is “a form of online reporting and journaling that gives anyone an opportunity to publish on the Internet.”   (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 129. 2012)

The teacher would first have to decide and review which New York City museums she would like to “tour” with her students.  She would also have to get in contact with the museum’s curator(s) ahead of time so they would be available during the scheduled day / time.  I found The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA - http://www.moma.org/) that has a lot of very useful and helpful information pertaining to online exhibits and artwork.  The teacher would be able to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit.  The instructional designer can help the teacher setup a blog for the students and the curator(s) to interact and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art.  The instructional designer would be able to also setup the video-conferencing between the selected museums and if there are any podcasts.  “It is imperative that educators think about how communication will occur and how to apply experiences that will promote effective and efficient learning experiences for all students.”  (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek.  p. 94. 2012)

The two external resources that showcase how these technologies have been successfully used in distance learning would be one, Colonial Williamsburg Museum Project - http://www.history.org/history/museums/murraySisters/ that I was able to experience for myself in a previous Walden University course, EIDT 6120 Multimedia Design Development.  This is an interactive website that can help reinforce information and assist in retention.  Interactivity also creates a more dynamic learning experience and fosters a learner-centered and learner-driven experience.  You had to click on each thumbnail, read the little information piece and you had to navigate through the whole thing on your own by making selections.  You could also click on the ‘zoom’ and ‘compare’ icons on the bottom for more visuals.  By having interactivity lessons in the classroom, it will give students of all learning styles a chance to see and do.  By seeing and doing, students will retain more and enjoy learning.  According to Chou, C., “Interactivity - a fundamental aspect of traditional face-to-face teaching - is a central concern in the design of such mediated instructional settings as computer-assisted instruction (CAI), computer-assisted learning (CAL), Internet-based learning, and Web-based learning (WBL)”.  (Chou 2003)  And two, Roman Open-Air Musem Hechingen-Stein - http://www.villa-rustica.de/tour/toure.html.  This is a Roman Villa dating from the 1st to the 3rd Century A.D.  You can take a guided tour, an aerial view tour, a 3D-model tour or a video tour. 

While researching on the Internet, I came across two pieces of information that would be very useful in the museum world.  One is CollectiveAccess (www.collectiveaccess.org), “a highly configurable cataloguing tool and web-based application for museums, archives and digital collections.  Available free of charge under the GPL open-source license, it requires little to no custom programming to support a variety of metadata standards, external data sources and repositories, as well as most popular media formats.”  (CollectiveAccess.  2013)  And two is Ideum, which “develops innovative hardware and software and is keenly focused on the future of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).  Our creative and collaborative approach to custom exhibit design produces memorable visitor experiences.  Our multitouch tables and touch wall products are known for their original designs, exceptional build-quality, and unbeatable performance.”  (Ideum.  n.d.)


References:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

National Association for Museum Exhibition’s Journal.  (n.d.). Vol. 27 no. 2. Open Source Software: New Possibilities for Museums.  http://ideum.com/blog/2008/11/open-source-software-new-possibilities-for-museums/

Ideum.  (n.d.)  http://ideum.com/home/

CollectiveAccess.  (2013)  http://www.collectiveaccess.org/about/overview

Wikipedia.  (Sept. 2013).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videoconferencing

The Museum of Modern Art.  (MoMA).  (2013).  11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019.  http://www.moma.org/

Colonial Williamsburg Museum Project.  http://www.history.org/history/museums/murraySisters/.  Accessed June 18, 2013.

Chou, C. (2003). Interactivity and interactive functions in web-based learning systems: a technical framework for designers. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34(3), 265–279.

Roman Open-Air Museum Hechingen-Stein.  (1995-2013).  http://www.villa-rustica.de/tour/toure.html